CRAIG WEDREN — the former Shudder to Think frontman and prolific film & TV composer (Wet Hot American Summer, Shrill, GLOW, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, more) — just released his cover of Cat Steven’s “Into White.” The track was featured on the most recent episode of NBC’s New Amsterdam, which Wedren scores, and includes performances from frequent collaborators including that dog.’s Anna Waronker (background vocals), Paul Cartwright (strings) and Jherek Bischoff (Bass, Synth).

Back Lot Music also recently released Wedren’s score for New Amsterdam. “It’s rare to get to work on something that’s creatively satisfying, truly GOOD in quality and overall message, made by wonderful people, and is also popular,” notes Wedren re: his work on the show. “Sometimes you get a couple of those things at once, but New Amsterdam miraculously manages to be all of them, and I’m so happy that we now have a soundtrack.” He adds, “As is the case with most good things, the music for this show is very much a team effort; THANK YOU to my brilliant co-composers Jefferson Friedman and Alex Shenkman, and to Matt Wang for his contributions.”

In addition to his film & television work, Wedren recently launched his singles and video series, The Dream Dreaming, which allows Wedren to focus on a song and its visual at the same time. He candyflips between the two as one informs the other, and the series serves as a balance to his film and TV work, one inspiring the other. The series kicked off with last month’s “On My Tongue” and was followed by “Going Sane,” a sonic continuation of the music he created with the acclaimed ‘90s DC-area band.

Craig Wedren has enjoyed a long and illustrious career. His first success came as the frontman of Washington, DC-based seminal post-hardcore band Shudder To Think. They released six LPs, and countless EPs and singles before disbanding in 1998. Since that time Wedren’s music has become an essential part of some of film and television’s most popular and lauded shows including films The School of Rock and Laurel Canyon; and television shows like GLOW (Netflix), Shrill (with that dog.’s Anna Waronker), Reno 911!,Mrs. Fletcher (HBO), New Amsterdam (NBC) and Fresh Off The Boat (ABC), among others. He’s also collaborated numerous times with his childhood friend David Wain including Role Models, The State and the Wet Hot American Summer movie and tv series.   

The last few years have been especially prolific for Wedren: 2020 saw him release his Sabbath Sessions podcast series and album Sabbath Sessions Vol. 1, both featuring improvised meditative music born out of the introspection of his longtime mindfulness and wellness practice. Sabbath Sessions are live, improvised vocal-looping performances intended to help facilitate connection to self and imagination. He has also released a handful of albums, the most recent being Adult Desire (2017) and Adult Desire Expanded (2019). Outside of music Craig released My ’90s–a limited edition hard-bound book featuring photos he took on his Polaroid Spectra in the 1990s and early 2000’s, documenting his late nights and early mornings on the road with Shudder to Think and time with friends including Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, members of The State and more. Read more on My ‘90s and see photos via Vanity Fair HERE.

Photo Courtesy: Peter Barreras